"You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great — and that's what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars."

                  -Elon Musk

 

SECURED SATELLITE NETWORK FOR GOVERNMENT ENTITIES

Starshield leverages SpaceX's Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on three areas:

Starlink already offers unparalleled end-to-end user data encryption. Starshield uses additional high-assurance cryptographic capability to host classified payloads and process data securely, meeting the most demanding government requirements.

 

Starlink's inter-satellite laser communications terminal, which is the only communications laser operating at scale in orbit today, can be integrated onto partner satellites to enable incorporation into the Starshield network.

 

https://www.spacex.com/starshield

 

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKBaoB9aFFc&t=7s

 

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Artificial Intelligence is no longer a futuristic idea—it’s a force changing how businesses operate worldwide. Since the explosion of generative AI in late 2022, businesses are rushing to experiment with AI tools, exploring how these technologies can make operations more efficient, increase productivity, and reshape workflows. 

However, as AI hype grows, a fundamental challenge arises: how can we accurately measure AI adoption, and what might that reveal about its impact on businesses, workers, and the broader economy? Without reliable data, it is difficult for decision-makers to know whether AI is driving meaningful change or merely being used in limited ways with minimal impact.

This is not a trivial question. Experimenting with free AI tools and deeply embedding sophisticated, paid AI systems should yield very different outcomes in terms of productivity, job creation, and job loss. Yet capturing the complexity of these scenarios in comparable data is challenging. AI evolves rapidly, its applications vary widely across industries, and the line between augmentation and automation is not always clear.

Recognizing this challenge, the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), after consultation with experts from the Bank of Israel, the Israel Innovation Authority, and the Israel Democracy Institute, a process that was facilitated by the Permanent Mission of Israel to the OECD, pioneered a dynamic, repeatable survey model designed to capture a real-time snapshot of how national businesses are adopting AI. This agile approach digs deeper than just asking whether businesses use AI. It enquires into how AI integrates into operations, whether it replaces tasks previously performed by employees, and whether businesses rely on free tools or invest in more advanced systems. The result is a living, evolving data source that helps policymakers, economists, and business leaders understand how AI is reshaping the economy in practice.

 What the data reveals about AI adoption in Israel

28% of Israeli businesses report using AI. Of these, 17% rely on paid AI tools, while another 11% use free, widely available options. The majority—72%—still report no use of AI at all.

However, this topline figure hides significant differences between industries. High-tech sectors lead in AI adoption, driven largely by the use of paid AI systems.

In stark contrast, construction shows only 6% adoption, while commerce and traditional services fall between 17% and 31%. This gap underscores the deep connection between AI adoption and sector-specific needs, digital readiness, and the types of tasks commonly found within each field.

 The tasks being transformed by AI

Among businesses that have adopted AI, 42% primarily use it for routine or technical tasks—automating repetitive, rules-based, or data-heavy functions. A smaller group, around 14%, extend AI into higher-level cognitive tasks that involve decision-making, analysis, or more complex problem-solving. However, 33% say AI isn’t replacing any tasks previously done by humans, indicating that AI generally acts more as an enhancement tool rather than a cause of job displacement for many companies.

The degree to which AI replaces tasks varies greatly across industries. In the high-tech sector, 66% of businesses report that AI is taking over tasks formerly performed by workers, mainly focusing on automating technical or repetitive duties. Conversely, the situation in commerce is nearly the opposite: 70% of companies using AI say the technology hasn’t replaced any tasks. This implies that AI in this sector is currently more of a supportive or experimental tool than a catalyst for fundamental change.

 Employment impact is less dramatic than expected

Despite common fears that automation will eliminate some jobs, the survey reveals that 89% of businesses report no change in employment due to AI. Only about 5% avoided hiring thanks to efficiency gains from AI, and 4% reported reducing staff, with roughly half of those reductions affecting highly skilled roles. Only 1% of businesses reported an increase in employment directly linked to AI adoption.

These figures suggest that while AI is beginning to reshape some workflows, its broader labour impact remains modest. The absence of any reported increase in employment may also be a worrying sign for the future, as historically, some transformative technologies not only replaced jobs but simultaneously generated new employment opportunities—a pattern that is not yet visible here with AI adoption.

 AI growth is still to come

When asked about their plans for the next six months, 27% of businesses say they expect to either start or continue using AI. Another 29% remain undecided, while 44% report no plans to adopt AI in the near future. Unsurprisingly, the growth trajectory is steepest in the high-tech sector, where around 57% of companies anticipate expanding or initiating AI use. In contrast, traditional industries show a more cautious approach, with only 15–30% signalling plans to adopt AI.

 Paid AI leads to greater impact

Businesses that pay for AI tools are six times more likely to report workforce effects, positive or negative, than those that rely solely on free tools (18% versus 3%). Paying for AI typically signals deeper integration of the technology into everyday workflows, which boosts automation, reshapes core processes, and can influence staffing decisions. However, it is also possible that the causality runs in the opposite direction: businesses with higher digital maturity or more complex needs may be more likely to invest in paid AI tools, enabling them to apply AI to more impactful and sophisticated tasks.

 What this means for policymakers and businesses

The employment impact is nuanced, affecting both low- and high-skilled roles in different ways, and the broader picture reveals signs of a gradual yet inevitable transformation. High-tech sectors are clearly leading the way, while traditional industries remain cautious, though not averse to change. For now, AI use appears to be more focused on task augmentation than full job replacement. However, that balance may shift as technologies improve.

This evolving landscape underscores the importance of dynamic, repeatable measurement. AI is not static, and it is accelerating, changing what is possible every few months. Tools like Israel’s Agile AI Survey are crucial for ensuring that policymakers, businesses, and economists are not operating in the dark. With timely, detailed data, they can track the relationship between AI, jobs, and productivity in near real-time, making informed decisions about how to navigate the future of work. In an era defined by rapid technological change, data-driven policymaking is not merely an advantage—it is a necessity.

https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/ai-and-the-world-of-work-a-real-time-snapshot-of-how-national-businesses-are-adopting-ai-in-israel

 

As part of the Gaza war, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has used artificial intelligence to rapidly and automatically perform much of the process of determining what to bomb. Israel has greatly expanded the bombing of the Gaza Strip, which in previous wars had been limited by the Israeli Air Force running out of targets.

These tools include the Gospel, an AI which automatically reviews surveillance data looking for buildings, equipment and people thought to belong to the enemy, and upon finding them, recommends bombing targets to a human analyst who may then decide whether to pass it along to the field. Another is Lavender, an "AI-powered database" which lists tens of thousands of Palestinian men linked by AI to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and which is also used for target recommendation.

Critics have argued the use of these AI tools puts civilians at risk, blurs accountability, and results in militarily disproportionate violence in violation of international humanitarian law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI-assisted_targeting_in_the_Gaza_Strip?

 

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The Ukraine conflict has become the biggest security crisis in Europe since WWII, straining defense industries’ ability to churn out weapons and equipment fast enough, and to adapt them to the rapidly changing needs of modern combat. Sputnik explores some of the DIY arms and kit invented and built by ordinary Russian soldiers and volunteers.

Ukraine has become a perfect “testing ground” for NATO’s latest weapons systems, now-former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov casually admitted to British business media back in July. “For the military industry of the world, you can’t invent a better testing ground,” the official said, adding that by sending arms to Ukraine, the US and its allies “can actually see if their weapons work, how efficiently they work and if they need to be upgraded.”

Setting aside the twisted sense of glee expressed by the official at the prospect of having his own country turned into a “testing ground” for the sake of a conflict he previously acknowledged was being fought for NATO’s interests, Reznikov is right about one thing: the Ukraine crisis has forced the military industrial complexes in both the West and Russia to go into overdrive to create and field arms and equipment suitable for the rapidly changing conditions of modern conflict.

That’s not always easy for engineers and scientists sitting in offices or working on shop floors thousands of kilometers from the front. Therefore, the past year-and-a-half has witnessed many dozens of examples of on-the-fly tinkering with existing weapon platforms by ordinary Russian servicemen, and the springing up of volunteer groups like mushrooms literally across the country to mass-manufacture other equipment critical to the troops’ safety and comfort.

 

Improvised Tank Defenses

Among the first modifications to existing equipment quickly spotted by military analysts and casual observers alike was the improvised slat armor (aka bar armor or cage armor) popping up on Russian tanks and armored vehicles from early 2022 onward, designed to provide vehicles with a measure of improvised protection against the thousands of anti-tank missiles flooding into Ukraine from NATO countries.

The improvised defenses, typically attached over the turrets of main battle tanks to protect against a range of top-attack portable anti-tank weapons like the US-made Javelin and some types of loitering munition drones, were soon pejoratively-dubbed “cope cages” by Western media and Russia-haters online. The sneering and derision soon stopped, however, after it emerged that Ukraine’s military had taken heed of Russian designs and also started to install the makeshift slat armor on their own tanks – including the sleek and modern (but as it turns out, not invincible) British-made Challenger 2s.

Amid the unprecedentedly dense deployment of drones during the crisis (to the point where some observers have now dubbed the Ukraine conflict the world’s “first full-scale drone war,” Russian frontline mechanics have come to depend on a variety of makeshift slat armor designs to provide vehicles with increased protection – particularly against smaller, lightly armed copter drones.

 

All-Purpose Tracked Vehicles

Russian mechanics have gotten into heavy duty modifications as well, with photos spreading like wildfire online of Soviet-designed MT-LB multipurpose towing vehicles equipped with a seemingly endless array of upgrades, ranging from welded-on 120 mm mortar guns, to grenade launchers, ZU-23-2 23x152 mm anti-aircraft autocannons, and even 25 mm 2M-3 gun installations which are ordinarily used on board warships.

“The MT-LB is a very successful platform,” an officer told Sputnik. “Unpretentious in maintenance, with good cross-country capabilities. It’s not armored, but it’s not meant to go up against tanks. These vehicles are mainly needed to deliver ammunition, food and water to the front line. But with additional weapons they can do more than that. The modification with the ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun is very popular, and works equally well both in the air and on the ground,” the officer said.

 

AK-Launched Mortars, Remote-Controlled Kornets

Russian frontline forces’ tinkering with weapons has included modifications to small arms as well. Last month, servicemen from a repair squad unveiled inventions designed to make use of stocks of readily available, but otherwise little-used munitions, machining adaptors to turn RPG-7 rocket grenade launchers into mortars, and turning standard-issue AK-74 assault rifles into RGD-5 grenade launchers.

In July, Russian television reported on efforts by troops in another section of the front to modify the deadly Kornet man-portable anti-tank missiles, making them remote-controllable to a distance of up to 50 meters from their launchers, thereby reducing risks to operators’ lives in case of enemy return fire.

 

Commercial Drones and Custom Components

In the early stages of the conflict, before the Russian defense sector began ramping up the production of new indigenous reconnaissance and strike drones, troops at the front supported by volunteers behind the lines had to rely on small, cheap, commercially-available UAVs for simple recon missions. With Ukrainian forces adapting to the off-the-shelf drones’ radar signals, operators began tinkering with both the hardware and software of the UAVs to make them harder to detect and destroy. In time, volunteers from cities across Russia began the widespread manufacture of 3D-printed components to turn ordinary copter drones into deadly, bomb-dropping weapons platforms.

“We use ordinary household 3D printers and plastics. Incidentally, since the start of the military operation, a lot of Russian producers of plastics have popped up, and it’s much cheaper and higher quality to buy domestically. Along with printers, some volunteers have lathes, laser machines, engraving and milling machines,” a volunteer coordinator told a Sputnik correspondent on the sidelines of the ARMY-2023 military forum last month.

Not by Guns Alone

Aside from weapons and munitions, the conflict has seen thousands of volunteers from across Russia organizing to manufacture and deliver a broad array of equipment and supplies, from custom-made camouflage netting and first-aid kits to portable generators, clothing and other specialized gear.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230917/inside-look-at-do-it-yourself-arms-and-equipment-used-by-russian-troops-during-special-op-1113438723.html?

 

In the early 2000’s, US military research agency DARPA developed an idea for a loitering munition controlled by fiber-optic cable under the Close Combat Lethal Recon program, but it was never fielded.[3]

Fiber optic FPV drones were fielded by Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian War in the spring of 2024 and by Ukraine soon after.[4][5][3]

Both Ukraine and Russia rely on electronic warfare to defeat FPV drones. Jammers are used on trenches and vehicles.[6] Pocket-size jammers for soldiers were also developed.[7] As of June 2023, Ukraine was losing 5-10,000 drones a month, or 160 per day, according to Ukrainian soldiers.[8]

This has led to Russia creating wire-guided FPV drones, similar in concept to wire-guided missiles or wire-guided torpedoes.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_optic_drone?ysclid=mdjfpugttg374370707

 

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mRNA therapeutics and vaccinesWhy mRNA represents a disruptive new drug class

Messenger RNA, or mRNA, represents one of the first molecules of life and is found in all living cells. It is composed of four different building blocks called nucleotides. An mRNA molecule consists of hundreds or thousands of nucleotides that are linked in a unique order to convey the necessary information to manufacture the corresponding protein in cells. In a therapeutic setting, mRNA can be used as a medium to encode the proteins of choice.

https://www.biontech.com/int/en/home/research-and-innovation/drug-classes/mrna.html

 

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MORE TO COME

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

Microplastics have even been found inside our bones – but what impact are they having on our health? Here's everything we know about what they're doing to our bodies.

A field in a sleepy corner of Hertfordshire, barely an hour's drive north of London, houses the world's longest running agricultural experiments.

Initiated by Victorian aristocrat and landowner John Bennett Lawes, who later became a successful pioneer of modern fertilisers, the aim was to test out various ideas for boosting wheat production. But without the help of modern technology, the only means of storing data was to meticulously collect samples of dried wheat grain, straw and soil from the field and bottle them away.

When it started in 1843, Lawes had little idea that this tradition would endure for another 182 years, creating a remarkable archive of samples. Now housed at the research facility Rothamsted Research, in Harpenden, the collection reflects many of the changes that human activity has inflicted on the planet in the past two centuries.

Andy Macdonald, the current custodian of the archive at Rothamsted Research, affectionately known by colleagues as "Keeper of the Bottles", says that samples collected during the 1940s and '50s contain radioactive traces – reflecting the fallout from the era's nuclear weapons testing. But there's another unwelcome record which can be found in these bottles of ancient soil – the first emergence of microplastics.

READ MORE:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250723-how-do-the-microplastics-in-our-bodies-affect-our-health

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

Julian Cribb

When technology enslaves humans

 

The future of humanity will no longer be determined by humans – that much is already clear. Technology has taken charge of our destiny. The question is: can anything be done?

No form of technology, whatever its benefits, comes without a penalty. The convenience of coal and oil, multiplied by human numbers and demand, has created the climate crisis, for which there remains no solution. The blessings of modern agriculture have ravaged half the planet, destroying three quarters of the world’s wild animals, and now face internal failure.

Every time humans come up with a brilliant new idea, it seems, we rarely calculate the downsides. We plough on regardless until the harms and deaths become undeniable. We worship ourselves as ‘_Homo sapiens_’ – wise man but our use of technology is seldom wise and quite frequently, catastrophic.

This is not to be read as a Luddite rant against technology. Rather it is a supportive warning that even the best technology has downsides, and its neglect or misuse can result in evil consequences, if not disaster. So, it must be controlled – and by society, not by its originators.

The global technology engine has ignited the afterburners, showering society with blazing marvels we eagerly seize, not understanding their inbuilt flaws, in a way that is far beyond the control of communities, nations or civilisation as a whole. Attempting to regulate this flood of new stuff, one technology and one country at a time, is futile – as the following (fast-growing) list of major risks highlights:

Techno-risks

New plagues: “Gain of function” engineering of deadly new lifeforms capable of infecting humans (as is suspected in the case of COVID) is proceeding worldwide, despite some efforts to contain it. Leading scientists argue it holds high risks and few benefits. More than 7000 research papers have been published on GOF since 2020.

Geoengineering: Geoengineering of the planet and its weather systems not only fails to address basic causes of the climate crisis but threatens to cause global food insecurity, ecosystem collapse and faster extinction rates. Essentially, it is trying to fix global warming by repeating the mistake.

AI: Adverse effects from AI, whether intended or not, on societies and ecosystems, can potentially wipe out humanity, scientists have warned. Short of that they can destroy political, economic and social systems, increase inequality, bias and conflict and saturate society in misinformation.

Global surveillance: Control of entire populations and every individual is advancing rapidly through 24/7 electronic surveillance, facial recognition, data mining, “smart” cities, AI and quantum computing. People will be told what to buy, which leaders to support and will be easily imprisoned or worse for their views.

Security failure: Widespread and systemic failures in safeguarding digital systems, infrastructure, networks, and data from unauthorised access, attacks, malicious use and exploitation by criminals, hostile nations and malignant corporates are now a universal reality. They could make the internet unworkable.

‘ **Broligarchy**’: Increased centralisation and control over consumers, voters and legislatures by technology billionaires (“tech bros”), is concentrating the power of private technology corporations and their bosses over government and society worldwide. Cheap AI and other digital baubles are used as bait to ensnare naïve citizens in their web. The industry is notably sexist and authoritarian, seen by some as a new form of tyranny.

**Killer robots**: Automation of offensive weapons, including nuclear and biological, so they can “think” for themselves, presents a growing risk that wars may be directed by machines rather than humans. Some experts fear machines may decide humans are surplus to their needs.

Nanopollution: The world is already inundated with plastic microparticles, entering human blood and brains, unborn children and all wildlife from 450mt/yr of plastic waste. A boom in nanoproducts is unleashing a new flood of pollution — of chemicals which never go away — without serious regulation or control.

Megacity collapse: This would be due to technological failure to develop renewable food, recycle water and waste and end chemical pollution. This is more a failure by technology to anticipate trouble.

It is not technology, per se, that is at fault. It is its widespread overuse or misuse, magnified by the power of global markets, the greed of developers, the burgeoning human population and its unrequited thirst for novelty and demand for material goods and comforts, no matter how deadly these may turn out to be.

National governments, beholden to international chemical and technology corporates, are often loath to protect their consumers by regulating. It generally happens very slowly, over decades, and seldom solves the problem – as the corporates simply migrate to more corrupt countries. With 196 countries all doing their own thing, it is arguable than, on its own, national regulation will never be effective in protecting citizens worldwide against the technology swarm now being unleashed.

Experience shows that people who develop technologies are inclined to exaggerate the benefits and play down the harms – and cannot be trusted to tell the whole truth about them. Such is the scale of the risk to all humanity which powerful new technologies present that a mechanism for societal oversight is now essential. A global agreement and an independent agency for reviewing novel technology, akin to the IPCC, is the only way we can avoid repeating the catastrophic mistakes of the past or creating fresh disasters in future.

Seeking answers

1. Recognising that human numbers and demands are now so vast that almost any technology created to satisfy them will have a negative impact on the Earth and its ability to sustain life, we could establish a Global Technology Convention requiring that all technologies — especially those that are comparatively recent and unknown — be independently and expertly assessed for both their benefits and harms and the findings made known worldwide for regulators to act on. (This is essentially how the global air safety authorities operate.)

2. All scientific disciplines should adopt a “first do no harm” code of ethics for their practitioners, as medical doctors do, to limit the likelihood of their technology being used for evil or dangerous purposes. All universities and scientific agencies should observe this voluntary code and be publicly scrutinised. If not, it can imposed by civil and international law.

3. New human rights can be established in the areas most affected by new technology to alert the world to potentials risks. For example:

4. A human right prohibiting the poisoning of humans, their water, food and environment with untested chemicals and nanoparticles;

5. A human right outlawing the creation of novel disease-causing organisms dangerous to humanity;

6. A human right prohibiting the use of killer robots against civilian populations; and

7. A human right prohibiting the mass surveillance of populations.

While human rights in themselves do not prevent the evils they define, they represent a conspicuous standard for the whole of world society and create pressure on governments, corporations and individuals to comply with them as well as legal avenues for redress.

Compared with nuclear war or global heating, the tech explosion is a sleeping giant. But it is fast awakening and may prove even harder to control.

If we fail, it will control us.

https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/07/when-technology-enslaves-humans/

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

The US government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot.

That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government’s plans for protecting the US from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before.

 

“It’s an exceptionally good technology,” said Edwin Burgess, an assistant professor at the University of Florida who studies parasites in animals, particularly livestock. “It’s an all-time great in terms of translating science to solve some kind of large problem.”

The targeted pest is the flesh-eating larva of the new world screwworm fly.The US Department of Agriculture plans to ramp up the breeding and distribution of adult male flies – sterilizing them with radiation before releasing them. They mate with females in the wild, and the eggs laid by the female aren’t fertilized and don’t hatch. There are fewer larvae, and, over time, the fly population dies out.

It is more effective and environmentally friendly than spraying the pest into oblivion, and it is how the US and other countries north of Panama eradicated the same pest decades ago. Sterile flies from a factory in Panama kept the flies contained there for years, but the pest appeared in southern Mexico late last year.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/02/new-world-screwworm-fly-flesh-eating-maggot

 

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Robots prepare for their own games! The 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games will take place in Beijing from August 14 to 17. Recently, cutting-edge robots from all over the country have been spotted "warming up" on the streets and corners of Beijing. Click the video to see this amazing fusion of technology and sports!

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202507/25/WS6882b64fa310ad07b5d91d8b.html

 

 

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https://rapu.ru/en/?ysclid=mdjpgope7744220334

 

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The Russian Math Behind Google's Trillion Dollar Algorithm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZeIEiBrT_w

 

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In May 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to restrict research on viruses and pathogens called gain-of-function studies. The National Institutes of Health is now taking steps to cancel dozens of such studies – including ones that have been deemed safe by agency scientists who reviewed them, according to Science magazine and The Washington Post.

The term “gain of function” is often taken to refer to research with viruses that puts society at risk of an infectious disease outbreak for questionable gain. Some research on emerging viruses can result in variants that gain the ability to infect people, but this does not necessarily mean the research is dangerous or that it is not fruitful. Concerns have focused on lab research on the virus that causes bird flu in 2012 and on the virus that causes COVID-19 since 2020. 

The possibility that a genetically modified virus could escape the lab needs to be taken seriously. But it does not mean that gain-of-function experiments are inherently risky or the purview of mad scientists. In fact, gain-of-function approaches are a fundamental tool in biology used to study much more than just viruses, contributing to many, if not most, modern discoveries in the field, including penicillin, cancer immunotherapies and drought-resistant crops.

As scientists who study viruses, we believe that misunderstanding the term “gain of function” as something nefarious comes at the cost of progress in human health, ecological sustainability and technological advancement. Clarifying what gain-of-function research really is can help clarify why it is an essential scientific tool.

What is gain of function?

To study how a living thing operates, scientists can change a specific part of it and then observe the effects. These changes sometimes result in the organism’s gaining a function it didn’t have before or losing a function it once had. 

For example, if the goal is to enhance the tumor-killing ability of immune cells, researchers can take a sample of a person’s immune cells and modify them to express a protein that specifically targets cancer cells. This mutated immune cell, called a CAR-T cell, thereby “gains the function” of being able to bind to cancerous cells and kill them. The advance of similar immunotherapies that help the immune system attack cancer cells is based on the exploratory research of scientists who synthesized such “Frankenstein” proteins in the 1980s. At that time, there was no way to know how useful these chimeric proteins would be to cancer treatment today, some 40 years later.

https://theconversation.com/gain-of-function-research-is-more-than-just-tweaking-risky-viruses-its-a-routine-and-essential-tool-in-all-biology-research-202084

 

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Gain-of-Function: The Blurred Lines of Biowarfare and Vaccine Research

Virologists working in civilian institutions create what they call “chimeras”: genetically-modified (GM) organisms, some of which are viruses engineered to be more lethal. 

The professed purpose is to better understand viral transmission in test-animals so that vaccines can be produced for humans. But the US Surgeon General warns that “deadly pathogens” could be made “by well-intentioned scientists who underestimate the unexpected consequences of their work.”

Such pathogens could leak or be stolen from laboratories. A British Ministry of Defence projection is more cynical. It says that “biotechnology and genetic engineering may be combined (sic) to create ‘designer’ bio-weapons.”

The engineering of GM viruses makes it difficult to determine whether or not a novel pathogen is natural or human-made. The ambiguity allows for plausible deniability on the part of those attacking a target population. 

https://tottnews.com/2021/01/15/gain-of-function-biowarfare-vaccines/

 

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Understanding Semiconductors:

Richa Sharma

 

The Backbone of Modern Technology

— -

Introduction

In the world of modern electronics, semiconductors are ubiquitous, forming the foundation of virtually all electronic devices we use today. From smartphones to solar cells, semiconductors are at the heart of the technology that drives our daily lives.

But what exactly are semiconductors, and why are they so crucial? This blog aims to demystify semiconductors and explain their importance in the technology landscape.

What are Semiconductors?

Semiconductors are materials with electrical conductivity between that of conductors (like copper) and insulators (like glass). This unique property makes them ideal for controlling electrical current. Silicon is the most commonly used semiconductor material, but others include germanium and gallium arsenide.

The Physics Behind Semiconductors

At the atomic level, the behavior of semiconductors can be explained by the band theory of solids. In conductors, the valence and conduction bands overlap, allowing electrons to flow freely. In insulators, a large energy gap exists between these bands, preventing electron flow. Semiconductors, however, have a small energy gap that allows for controlled electron flow when energy (in the form of heat, light, or voltage) is applied.

Types of Semiconductors

1. Intrinsic Semiconductors: Pure semiconductors without any significant impurities. Their electrical properties are determined solely by the material itself.
2. Extrinsic Semiconductors: Semiconductors that have been intentionally doped with impurities to modify their electrical properties. There are two types:
— n-type: Doped with elements that have more valence electrons than the semiconductor material, adding extra free electrons.
— p-type: Doped with elements that have fewer valence electrons, creating “holes” or positive charge carriers.

Semiconductor Devices

Semiconductors are the building blocks of a wide range of electronic devices, including:

- Diodes: Allow current to flow in one direction only, used in rectification and signal modulation.
- Transistors: Act as switches or amplifiers, fundamental to digital circuits and microprocessors.
- Integrated Circuits (ICs): Miniaturized circuits containing thousands to billions of transistors, forming the brains of computers and other digital devices.
- Photovoltaic Cells: Convert light into electricity, essential for solar panels.

The Role of Semiconductors in Modern Technology

Semiconductors are crucial for the advancement of technology. They enable the miniaturization of electronic components, leading to more powerful and efficient devices. Here are some key applications:

- Computing: Microprocessors and memory chips are made of semiconductor materials, driving the performance of computers, smartphones, and servers.
- Communication: Semiconductors are integral to wireless communication technologies, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks.
- Healthcare: Medical devices, such as MRI machines and digital diagnostic tools, rely on semiconductor technology.
- Energy: Semiconductors are used in power electronics for efficient energy conversion and management, as well as in renewable energy technologies like solar cells.

The Future of Semiconductors

The semiconductor industry is continuously evolving, with research focused on developing new materials and technologies to overcome current limitations. Some emerging trends include:

- 2D Materials: Beyond silicon, materials like graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides are being explored for their exceptional electrical properties.
- Quantum Computing: Semiconductors play a key role in the development of quantum bits (qubits) for quantum computers, which promise to revolutionize computing power.
- Flexible Electronics: Research into flexible and wearable semiconductors aims to create new applications in health monitoring and wearable technology.

Conclusion

Semiconductors are the backbone of modern technology, enabling advancements in a wide array of fields. Understanding their properties and applications helps us appreciate the complexity and innovation that goes into the devices we rely on every day. As research and development continue, the future of semiconductors holds exciting possibilities that will further transform our technological landscape.

 

https://medium.com/@richasharma.py/understanding-semiconductors-5fb4c9ba2dd9

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

 

The 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance is scheduled to kick off in Shanghai on Saturday, showcasing cutting-edge technologies and innovations by domestic and foreign tech enterprises including Unitree Robotics, Google and Siemens, while providing an important platform for strengthening international AI cooperation and governance amid growing unilateralism and protectionism from certain Western countries.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend and address the opening ceremony of the event, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Held under the theme "Global Solidarity in the AI Era," the annual three-day event has attracted over 800 Chinese and international exhibitors showcasing more than 3,000 exhibits, hitting a record high. Meanwhile, the conference will convene global experts, industry leaders, and policymakers from 40 countries and international organizations to explore the future development of AI technology and global governance frameworks, according to the organizer.

Cutting-edge tech on-display

The exhibition will be further divided into the four themes of core technologies, industrial application, smart terminals, and universal links. Global tech giants such as Google, Amazon Web Services, and Cisco, alongside domestic leaders like Alibaba, Huawei and iFlytek, as well as startups like Hangzhou's "Six Little Dragons" will gather to showcase their state-of-the-art technologies, the organizer said in a statement sent to the Global Times.

Huawei will debut its Supernode 384 computing architecture, the largest-scale deployment of its kind, while Cisco will unveil its CX Generative Intelligent Operations platform for the first time globally. The Siemens Industrial Copilot and Tesla's Tesla Bot will also be on display, the organizer said. 

At WAIC 2025, MiniMax will showcase a full lineup of AI-native products -including MiniMax Agent, Hailuo AI, MiniMax Audio and the Xingye AI app - alongside its latest smart hardware and ecosystem apps, giving every visitor instant, hands-on intelligence.

Yan Yijun, vice president of public affairs of the startup, told the Global Times on Friday that the company will always pledge to anchor its future in indigenous innovation and open collaboration. "We will keep pouring resources into foundational theory and core technologies while working hand-in-hand with our global partners to turn cutting-edge research into real-world productivity," Yan said.

Chinese AI company iFlytek will unveil the upgraded SparkDesk X1 large model, allowing visitors to test its latest capabilities in math solving, translation, multilingual dialogue, and code generation. As the event's official translation partner, iFlytek will also provide simultaneous on-screen interpretation for the opening ceremony, plenary and parallel sessions, while also appearing at the national pavilion and terminal-product exhibits, the company told the Global Times on Friday.

"It is generally believed that this year marks the commercialization of humanoid robots," Qiu Heng, chief marketing officer of Agibot, told the Global Times, revealing that the company will launch the Lingxi X2-Pro robot at WAIC 2025, showcasing its applications in industrial manufacturing, logistics, retail services, entertainment and education. In industrial settings, humanoid robots excel in flexible manufacturing, adapting to small-batch, variable production demands.

Across the WAIC 2025 expo floor, 128 check-in points are woven through ten themed zones, while the first-ever "WAIC City Walk" threads 16 Shanghai districts into one giant, immersive circuit.

At the core themed street, robots will take on various roles in old Shanghai alley scenarios, performing high-precision tasks such as drumming, calligraphy, cooking skewers and peeling eggs. These actions demonstrate the iterative development of cognitive, motion and interactive intelligence.

Call for intl cooperation

While providing an arena for global tech giants to showcase their latest innovations, China also aims to promote a united voice from the international community in AI to inject greater stability and certainty into the turbulent world, and leverage AI technology to boost global sustainable development, according to the organizer.

"In 2025, the meteoric rise of Chinese large language models, especially open-source models, instilled hope in the global community - especially developing countries - offering them the chance to access and embrace the dividends of AI development," Wang Ruomeng from the National Development and Reform Commission told a press conference earlier this month in Shanghai.

At this year's conference, China will share experience of AI cooperation with other countries, Wang said, citing the example of how DeepSeek-powered translation services aided rescue efforts following the recent Myanmar earthquake.

"This showcases China's sense of responsibility as a major country in global AI cooperation and governance, as the country always believes that all parties should jointly promote the open and inclusive development of AI for good and for all," Bao Jianyun, dean and professor of the Department of International Politics, School of International studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Friday, pointing out the stark contrast with the US' protectionist and hegemonic development path in the AI field.

The US administration released a new AI blueprint on Wednesday that aims to loosen environmental rules and vastly expand AI exports to allies, in a bid to maintain the American edge over China in the critical technology, Reuters reported.

In addition, the US has also intensified its crackdown on Chinese technology firms and its AI industry. In May, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce issued an announcement regarding the use of Huawei's Ascend chips as a "violation of US export controls", and warned the public of the potential consequences of allowing the use of US AI chips for training Chinese AI models.

However, despite the US' persistent suppression, domestic Chinese AI products have achieved significant breakthroughs in terms of application, reaching parameter scales in the hundreds of billions and achieving multi-modal capabilities. They have been deeply integrated into scenarios such as office collaboration, education, industrial design and content creation, forming an intelligent application ecosystem covering multiple fields, according to a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center on Monday.

Facts have proven that monopolizing technologies and resorting to protectionist threats to contain China's AI capabilities are all unfeasible and counterproductive approaches, which will ultimately hinder the fundamental development of the US' own AI sector, Bao said. He stressed that China's vast market and enormous AI potential provide great opportunities for US companies like Nvidia.

"Globalization is an inevitable trend. The wide participation of enterprises, scholars and officials from across the world at the WAIC demonstrates the robust vitality of international AI cooperation while also underscoring that open cooperation and exchanges are the future of global AI," he said.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202507/1339270.shtml

 

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.